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The introduction to this series of articles can be found here

Definition: A child who is shocked by the sight of foreigners, staring at them in amazement and sometimes becoming frozen to the spot.

Example sentence: “Most kids in Kyoto are used to seeing foreigners all the time so they don’t bat an eyelid. If you go to Kagoshima though, it’s a different story - they’re all Gameboy Droppers down there.”

Related expressions: Adult Gameboy Dropper (noun) - The same as a Gameboy Dropper, but older and less likely to drop whatever they’re holding.

Explanation: Because they live in such a racially-homogenous country kids in Japan are used to seeing only Japanese people around them, especially since most of them have never been overseas and rarely see foreigners on TV. As a result they’re often visibly shocked when they see a foreigner, their amazement manifested in stares, paralysis or remarks to their parents.
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The English version of this article can be found here

定義：　外人を見てショックをうける子供。驚いて遠慮なしでジロジロ眺める。時にはその場に凍りついたりする。

例文：　「京都の子供はたいてい外人慣れしてるから外人なんて珍しくもないけど、鹿児島に行ったらもうそこら中Gameboy Droppersだらけだよ。」

関連表現：　Adult Gameboy Dropper (名詞)：　基本的にはGameboy Droppers と同じ。でも大人だからいくら驚いたからって、自分の持ち物は落としたりしないと思うけど。

説明: 日本の子供達は単一民族の国に生まれてるから、周りが日本人だけなのが当たり前。海外経験のある子供もまだまだ少ないし、テレビで外国人を見る事もあまりないから、たまに外国人を見かけるとあからさまに驚いてるのがわかる。ジーッと見つめる子もいれば、その場で硬直する子もいるし、親にとりあえず報告する子もいる。
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Checking out Osaka’s Korean area

As a big fan of Korean food and culture I was eager to check out the Tsuruhashi area of Osaka, the city’s ‘Korean Town’, and headed down there last week. The noticeably ‘Korean’ part of Tsuruhashi is found where the JR, Sennichimae subway, and Kintetsu railway lines converge and the area around the stations is a rabbit warren of narrow alleyways full of character.

The west side of the stations is home to numerous yaki niku (Korean bulgogi beef barbecue that you grill yourself at your table) restaurants, with a couple of streets devoted entirely to this cuisine. Several restaurants have been featured on TV and proudly display photos of the owners posing with tarento (TV personalities) who dined there, but more interesting than these were some of the menus outside the restaurants.
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More Japanese Video Clips

In October’s Website Review I was talking about the popularity of YouTube and the availability of Japan-related videos on the site. YouTubes’s new owners are well aware of the commercial value of building internet communities/groups and this is something they’re trying to promote more on the site, making it even easier to find Japanese video clips. Some of the more popular Japan-related groups are Japan, Anime and Japan Lovers1, Japan China Korea, Pop Japan TV and Japanimation 日本, all of which have over fifty members. There are hundreds of other groups with fewer members (most with fewer than ten) and varying numbers of videos; I’ve created a Big On Japan group but we’ll just have to wait and see whether it gets any members…

A better way to find good Japanese video clips than going directly to YouTube is to let Gavin Purcell do all the hard work for you. His convenient TV In Japan site features LOADS of Japanese TV clips from YouTube, Daily Motion and Veoh, meticulously catalogued along with comments. It’s so good I’ll no doubt be stealing some clips from there and putting them on Big On Japan.

It’s all very well having a giggle at the wacky Japanese TV commercials available on the internet but for anyone with more than just a superficial interest in advertising Michael Fiorella’s Weblog Awards-nominated Japan Marketing News offers more in-depth analysis of selected commercials, as well as an overview of Japanese products and marketing in general.

For more Tochō photos check out Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building (都庁) - Part 1

The first time I ever went to Tokyo I emerged from the east exit of Shinjuku station expecting to see a futuristic cityscape reminiscent of the sci-fi film Bladerunner. While the sea of neon I was greeted with was certainly impressive, I was actually surprised by the lack of skyscrapers in the area. Admittedly Shinjuku’s skyscraper district is actually located to the west of the station, but even after I figured that out and headed on over there, it was on the whole a disappointing collection of high-rises.

It seems that due to concerns over vulnerability in light of the earthquakes that frequently hit the city, attitudes towards skyscraper construction in Tokyo have (quite understandably) placed an emphasis on structural engineering and safety rather than on height and appearance. The result is that, while Tokyo has a comparable number of skyscrapers to other major cities in the world, its skyline lacks the diversity and innovation found among high-rises in places like New York or Hong Kong.
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Kagami-mochi, a traditional New Year decoration in Japan.

Happy New Year!